Monday, January 21, 2013

Well, we've made it to Hawaii! We spent our first four days here at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club, and it was nothing short of amazing. The beach was breathtakingly beautiful and the weather was phenomenal. I've never lived near a beach before, so I am pretty much in awe of every beach I see, but I think it's fair to say this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. If any military friends are planning a trip out here or are PCSing and want a vacation spot, the Marriott Ko Olina gives a great military discount!

Ko Olina sunset

beautiful view at Ko Olina

Luke reported to MCB Hawaii on Thursday, and he was given a quick reality check as to how much work he has ahead of him. He was originally told he'd be in a liaison platoon for a few weeks, but he's now taking over as a guns platoon commander. He is really excited, but he has all of about 3 days to learn every aspect of his job before the LT he's taking over for PCSes. So it will be a good learning experience for him and he will likely be forced to use the organizational skills I've been gently suggesting for the last 7 years. He was also hailed the day he checked in, so we got to meet everyone and I got to meet some wives which made me feel a lot less overwhelmed and lonely!

After the Hail & Bail

I met with my internship site supervisor and principal on Friday, and I am incredibly excited to start working tomorrow. For those of you that are thinking, "Shouldn't you have a real job by now?" basically I am doing another internship so that I can be licensed/certified to be either a mental heath counselor or a school counselor. The licensing process for counselors is terribly inconsistent across states, particularly the states in which we might live, so this is not ideal, but is pretty much necessary. In Hawaii, there are lots and lots and lots of substance abuse counseling jobs, but I know my limits, and that is one of them. I really disliked substance abuse counseling in my first clinical internship, and I know I would burn out very quickly if I were to do that, so I am taking this time to expand my scope of practice so that I can get a job that I will love going to every day. My site is a local middle school in Kailua, and I think it is going to be a really positive experience. Because I am already nationally certified, they are giving me a huge caseload and a lot of responsibilities, and I am thankful for that. I am really looking forward to working with the kids and hopefully making a difference.

Luke and I are really loving living in Hawaii so far, after 9 days of experience. He had a 96 this weekend, so we had a chance to explore a little and get to know our surroundings. Kailua is one of the towns right outside of the base, and it has a small town feel despite there being a lot of military and tourists. We also got to spend some time today at one of the beaches on base, and I have decided this is not going to be a bad place to endure a deployment. For the time being, we are getting TLA and living in the hotel on base. We ask for prayers that we will either be offered base housing very soon or that we would find a place to live off base. Options are limited right now, and we really want to get it handled before Luke leaves in the near-ish future.